AR00015
by lullydef
Summary: AU. It's the latest rumour spreading around the net: the story of a chip containing a video that, after viewing, kills whoever has watched it. When her niece dies suddenly, Japanese reporter Urushima Majime traces her death back to this mysterious chip. She has only seven short days to unravel the mystery, including the untimely deaths of Empress Levana and her only child.
1. One

_I love my mommy._

 _But she doesn't love me._

 _She wants me to go away._

* * *

"You want to hear something really stupid?"

Azelma rolled over on her bed and sprawled out her arms. "Sure," she laughed.

Morgan, her eyes wide and her grin contagious, propped herself up on her elbows. "So yesterday, this idiot at school comes up to me and tells me about some chip that everyone's been talking about, _apparently_." She made a face.

"What chip? Who even talks about stuff like that?"

"Beats me. It's the chip with the video file that kills you when you watch it. That's what the guy told me."

Azelma looked up at her friend, more attentive. "That…kills?"

"Yeah, it's got some curse on it. At the end of the video, you get a voice comm from a stranger—they know that you've watched it. All they tell you is that you have seven days before they hang up on you." Morgan bit her lip. "And after those seven days, you die."

Azelma did not laugh along with Morgan at this. She slowly sat up, her face frozen in dread.

"Pretty stupid, right?"

Azelma's lip trembled. "I've…I've watched it," she whispered.

"Uh, what?"

"I've watched that video. At the end I got a comm and there was this girl that said _'seven days'_ and—"

Morgan let out a roar of laughter. "You're such a liar! There's no way that thing exists."

"I..." Azelma sucked in a breath and began to cough. She wrapped her hands around her throat.

"What the hell, Az?!" Morgan rushed over her. "Snap out of it!"

Suddenly, Azelma went silent and stopped moving, as if she were dead. A smile spread across her face and she stuck out her tongue. "Gotcha!"

Morgan slapped her friend's head. "Don't ever do that again, you moron," she laughed.

"You totally fell for it!"

Just as Morgan was about to tackle Azelma to the ground, a deep ring echoed from down the hall. The two froze, both looking towards the source of the sound. Azelma trembled in fear and stood. She then made her way down into the living room, where the netscreen on the wall signalled an incoming comm. Azelma sighed with relief when she saw that it was just her mother. She quickly established the link.

"Hi, Sweetie! Is everything going well?"

Azelma bit her lip. "Yeah, I have Morgan over for the night. We're watching movies," she lied.

"Ah, alright. Well, I just wanted to tell you that your father and I will be staying in Towa until tomorrow afternoon—the party went a bit long."

Morgan came up behind her and tickled her back. Azelma forced back giggles. "Okay, sure. We'll be fine here."

"Goodnight, Sweetie. I love you very much."

"Me too, me too. Goodnight."

Azelma disconnected the link and leaned against the wall. Morgan wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "So, do you wanna do what you told your mom? I hate to be a liar," she mused.

"Whatever," Azelma chuckled. "Go pick something fun out on the big screen downstairs—I'm gonna go to the bathroom."

"Can do, boss." Morgan hopped along until she was out of sight.

Azelma shook her head. She struggled to calm her thundering heart; the cool touch of fresh water on her face did little to ease her. She was nearly crippled by her sudden anxiety. She didn't know why, but she couldn't shake off the feeling that she was being watched. Her eyes darted to the mirror that took up most of the bathroom wall. Everything seemed normal until a shadow flickered away in the corner of her eye. Azelma quickly turned her head, but there was nothing to see.

She felt faint. Slowly, a horrible ringing sound overtook her, and she crumpled to the floor. The sound bounced in her ears, inside her skull, bringing about a pounding headache. Something cool licked at her knees, and she noticed a puddle of water spreading across the floor. It wasn't coming from the sink, nor the bathtub; rather, it was slowly leaking into the bathroom from the hallway. Azelma followed the trail of water up until her bedroom. The liquid was seeping under her closed door. She rubbed her eyes. She could've sworn that she had left her door open—Morgan must've shut it behind her.

The doorknob was freezing to the touch. Gritting her teeth, Azelma forced her trembling hand to twist it and push the door open. Everything within her screamed to leave it alone, to run as far away as she could. Something stronger, though, was making her body act against her, and she was left at the mercy of whatever was compelling her inside.

Her own personal netscreen was on and lit up the room in an eerie white glow. Azelma could see a very familiar scene on this screen; a monochrome still of a brick well, surrounded by cherry blossom trees and lush-looking grass. Water poured from the well, through the screen and onto the floor. Her heart sank—it had been a week, hadn't it?

She had tried to convince herself that it was all a stupid hoax. But now, all she could think was that she was going to die. Her nightmares from the past six nights were coming to fruition.

The chip that she had found in the antique shop was still plugged into her netscreen. Azelma didn't possess the words necessary to describe the sheer strangeness of the video that had been put on it. Now, it played on repeat in her mind. The fire, the moon, the wolves, the well, the woman in the mirror...

The glowing ring of light, slowly fading in the distance.

* * *

 **So, I guess I now have a collection of TLC/Horror movie crossovers. This one is based on _The Ring_ from 2002. I'll be finishing _Through The Looking-Glass soon._ Please review, fave and follow if you like this!**


	2. Two

Majime hated to wear wrinkled clothes, but she had no time to iron out her wrinkled mourning dress. Hiroko, the naughty girl, had hidden it somewhere in her closet, stuffed in a ball. In her six-year-old mind, she figured that if her mother had no black dress to wear, then she wouldn't have to go to Azelma's funeral. Majime did eventually coax Hiroko to give it back. Dressed in a spotless black suit, Hiroko pouted the whole ride to her aunt and uncle's house.

"You're going to be on your best behaviour tonight, aren't you?" Majime called out from the front seat of the hover.

Hiroko curled up on herself. "I don't wanna go."

"We have to be there for Oba and Oji. They're really sad right now."

"But Azelma won't be there." Hiroko began to cry. "I don't want to go without Azelma."

Majime sighed. The rain outside was torrential, and she forced herself to blink back her own tears so she could focus on her driving. She was on the brink of putting the hover on autopilot. "We're going to say goodbye to Azelma. You need to tell her how much you love her."

Hiroko hid her head under her arms and sniffed loudly. She said nothing more until they arrived at their destination: Urushima Chiro's lovely countryside home was the picture of despair under the grey clouds and evening sky. Every window had been covered in black curtains and the flowerpots were filled with white lilies. There was no laughter, no music, no lively conversation; only hushed whispers and sobs heard from the occasional mourner. Majime found her older brother seated on the couch, his hands folded in his lap. His eyes were red from crying.

Majime held Hiroko's hand and kept the girl close. "Chiro..." she approached her brother, "are you alright?"

"Yes..yes, I'm—" Chiro rubbed his face. "I'm alright. Just peachy."

"I'm so sorry," she whispered.

Her brother turned away from her, surrendering himself to a fresh wave of tears. Majime slowly backed away, feeling uneasy. She could tell that Hiroko was getting impatient. "Why don't you go and say hi to your cousins?"

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom," Hiroko deadpanned. The child walked away, leaving Majime alone in the middle of the room. She glanced at a nearby table, where a large portrait of a smiling Azelma was placed along with lily bouquets. It was chilling, staring into the eyes of a girl-now-dead.

She heard someone coming up behind her, and she turned to see Meryam, her sister-in-law. Azelma had looked so much like her mother. "He sleeps all day, he doesn't move...it's all too much for him," Meryam sighed.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," Majime replied.

"It doesn't make sense, Majime. She was a good girl."

"She was."

"I've spent hours on the net and I've spoken to four different doctors...none of them can tell me what happened to my daughter."

"How did she...how did she die?"

Meryam swallowed a sob. "They say her heart just stopped. When has that ever happened to a sixteen-year-old girl?"

"I don't know." Majime shook her head. "You're right, it doesn't make any sense."

"Can _you_ find out what happened?"

Majime blinked. "Pardon?"

"Isn't that what you do? Ask questions?"

"Meryam, I don't think—"

Suddenly, Meryam took Majime's hand and lead her down into the study. She frantically digged out an envelope stamped with _confidential_ on the paper. She pulled out some photos and what looked like a coroner's report. "I saw her face, when I found her in the closet...it was unlike anything I've ever heard of." She held up a terrifying picture of Azelma's corpse, curled in the fetal position, her face distorted and bloated beyond recognition. Majime's lunch threatened to make a reappearance. "Can you tell me what did this to her?"

"No," Majime managed to say.

"If there's anyone who could find out, it's you. Please. Put our minds at ease—we need to know what happened."

Majime swallowed the bile in her throat. She could no longer stand her sister-in-law's desperation and the disturbing pictures. She walked away and stepped outside for some fresh air. It was still pouring, and the few people loitering about were seated beneath the porch. She came up beside a couple of teenage girls who were smoking and chatting between themselves.

"There's this guy that records you watching it and then kills you, and it's not just in Hokkaido...there's more than one chip, they say." The first girl took a drag of her cigarette.

"That's bunk. Az probably just OD'd on some meth or something."

"You know that she didn't do meth. She was too poor for that."

The second girl rolled her eyes. "Well, she didn't die because of some stupid chip—"

"Hi," Majime cut in, holding her hands behind her back. The two girls turned to stare at her, obviously displeased at her intrusion. "What's this chip that you're talking about?"

"The one that kills you when you watch it," said the first girl.

Majime blinked. "Did Azelma watch it?"

The girl shrugged. "Az mentioned something about some chip she bought off a sketchy guy and eventually, this jackoff at school started saying that she had gotten a cursed chip."

"You went to school with her."

The second girl took a drag. "Yeah. She was acting sort of strange last week; she seemed freaked."

Majime felt a chill run down her spine. "So, she _did_ watch it?"

"Dunno. I find it hard to buy into some urban legend."

Majime felt that this was the extent of the information she would get out of the two girls. She left in search of Hiroko; she was surely finished using the bathroom by then. She couldn't find her daughter anywhere downstairs, so she went to the second floor, despite her unease. She found Hiroko poking around in Azelma's bedroom. She went about her cousin's things without shame. The reporter felt her cheeks flush with anger at such disrespect.

"Hiroko!" Majime admonished. "You shouldn't be in Azelma's room!"

The girl cocked her head. "It's not _her_ room anymore."

Majime froze; she had never heard her daughter say anything so callous. Hiroko turned her back and peered at her dead cousin's desk, where a few open binders rested, one on top of the other. Despite her better judgement, Majime risked a glance around. The room was pristine, save for the obvious water stains on the wood floor. They lead in a trail to the netscreen. She pursed her lips and stepped closer. Beneath the screen was a shelf of drives and chips full of various games, shows and movies. One immediately stood out to her: it was blank, white and covered in shimmering dust. Its appearance made it seem so otherworldly.

Her hand trembling, Majime gently plucked the odd chip from the collection. It felt like poison on her palm. Somehow, inexplicably, she felt that this was the chip Azelma had bought on a whim. After a moment, she took a deep breath and slid it into her pocket. "Come, Hiroko. We shouldn't be in here."

The girl ignored her, approaching the netscreen in turn. She powered it on and the photo album was displayed before them. The most recent folder had pictures of Azelma, Morgan, their boyfriends and classmates. There was a certain peculiarity to all of them: Azelma's face was strangely distorted, while the others were fine. Majime shook off a chill. These pictures had all been taken at most a week before Azelma's death. Her body stiff, she turned off the netscreen and grabbed a resistant Hiroko by the hand. She was unable to shake off the sense of dread as she led them both out of the room and back down to the reception.

* * *

They got home quite late. Hiroko was immediately put to bed after changing into her pyjamas, and Majime was fixing up her usual evening tea before she too retired for the night. The house seemed cold and empty to her as she quietly sipped her kocha on the couch. She was still wearing her mourning dress. As she settled into a more comfortable position against the cushion, she could feel the chip in her pocket poking her hip. She frowned and set down her tea before digging the offending object out.

The chip shimmered in the faint light emitted from the table lamp. The more she thought about it, the more the story seemed to make sense...but she couldn't bring herself to fully believe it. Azelma's death was so sudden and out of place, and the fact that she had this weird chip seemed like an impossible coincidence. The pictures only further shed light on the oddness of what had happened. However, Majime was a creature of logic, and none of this followed the rules of reality. She investigated everyday news, not ghost stories.

It couldn't hurt to see what was on it, she decided. The chip fit perfectly in the drive on the netscreen. She remained kneeling on the ground as the device detected the chip and opened up the contents. Inside the data folder was a single video file without any title, not even an extension. The thumbnail was the standard movie reel. Majime wondered if the screen could even play a file like that—it had to be corrupted somehow. Majime pressed on the file and for a moment, nothing happened. The video player suddenly flashed on the screen and a horrible static sound rang through the speakers. She jumped and scrambled to turn down the volume; surely something that loud would wake Hiroko. Before she could, though, the sound cut out and focused into soft, muffled buzzing.

A glowing ring of light appeared in the darkness. It hovered menacingly in the center of the video before cutting to what seemed like running water. The footage lacked any colour except for grey and black hues. The sequences came and went in a similar fashion throughout the whole thing—after the water, it was a woman brushing her hair in a mirror...except it was only her reflection. There was no one standing in front of the mirror. This woman appeared to have had half of her face burnt away. She was smiling off into the distance, and for a fleeting moment, the silhouette of a little girl crept up behind her.

Majime could only stare. It were as if she was being held to the spot by some unknown force. The video took a more horrific turn, showing a person being gutted and a fingernail getting ripped off with a screw. A doll was slowly burnt to nothing from the inside. A chair spun upside down in the air, seemingly on its own. The Earth and the Moon twirled around each other in a demented dance. Dead wolves floated in the middle of clear water. In the background of that shot, Majime could barely discern a large, elaborate structure. It cut back to the woman, who this time shot herself through the head with a handgun. Bits of brains and blood splattered onto the mirror.

Right then, the humming started; it was a child's voice, sweet and eerie. Majime couldn't make out the words. After what seemed like an eternity of staring at that woman's remains, the screen faded to black and the glowing ring appeared once again. The same child's voice began to scream frantically, calling for its mother. This was followed by the final scene, a still shot of a well situated in the middle of a meadow. The video suddenly ended in static.

Majime snapped out of her trance to quickly shut off the netscreen. She was quaking and panting; cold sweat ran down her neck. She wiped her damp hands on the velvet of her dress. Never in her life had she seen something so bizarre. She was shaken to her very core, she could barely breathe—

Her portscreen chimed repeatedly, signalling an incoming comm. Majime couldn't help the sob that escaped her.

 _You get a comm once it's over. Someone knows you've watched it._

With a trembling hand, she grabbed her port and accepted the comm. Her mug was knocked over in the process. Hot tea soaked the carpet. Her eyes glistened with tears as she brought the port to her ear. "H-Hello?"

" _Seven days_ ," were the only two words said.


	3. Three

Majime held a cold cloth to her forehead; she had been settled across the couch and told to relax. Even hours after viewing the video, the chill never faded. She felt incredibly ill.

"You have the flu or something?" Toshi asked, stacking a pile of old, decrepit videotapes on his work desk.

Majime winced. As soon as she had sent Hiroko off to school that morning, she made her way to Toshi's—he was always the person she could go to when she was faced with hardship. They had been best friends since high school and did most of their work together.

She couldn't stand to stay at home by herself, not after what she had seen last night.

"Just don't hurl all over my couch," he warned. "That's real leather."

"Oh, leave me," she croaked. "I don't have the flu. I'm freaked out."

"What happened?"

Majime rolled over and groaned loudly.

"Come on, what's gotten into you?"

She flung an arm over her face. "I watched that chip."

Toshi sat down in front of his computer. He had never upgraded to a netscreen; he liked to say that he preferred the old stuff, that there was something comforting about typing on a real keyboard. His latest project blared from the screen—he was restoring old archives, more than five hundred years old. "Whatever you're talking about," he grumbled.

"It's the one that kills you a week after you watch it."

He slammed his hands on the desk. "Oh, don't tell me you've fallen for some—"

"It's real, Toshi!" Majime sat up, her skin pale and clammy. She was shaking. "Everything they're saying about that chip is true! The video on it is like someone's nightmare, and once it was over, I got a comm..." She wrapped her arms around herself. "It sounded like a little girl."

"That's ridiculous."

"Toshi, would you say that I'm easily rattled?"

"Occasionally!" He shook his head. "It's probably some big prank. You'd be surprised how far people go when they're bored."

Majime quieted. "Azelma died a week after watching the video. You should've seen her. It was so awful; she looked like she had the life literally sucked out of her. They say her heart just stopped, and there was no trace of poison in her body. Doesn't that sound weird?"

"There's no way she died because of a _video_."

"I'm scared, Toshi. I don't know what to do. If it _is_ real, I only have a week to live."

Toshi took a deep breath. "Do you have it with you?"

"Yeah, it's in my pocket," she whispered.

"Let me see it."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

In an instant, he was on his feet. "Come on, Majime. How can I help if I have no clue what I'm dealing with?"

Her reluctance was both confusing and annoying to him. She was usually jumping at the chance to show him weird and creepy stuff. It always made a good story. But now, she seemed truly afraid of this thing. "I guess we'll die together, then."

She pulled the chip out of her pocket. She had placed it in a small plastic case. Grumbling, Toshi took it from her and pulled the object out. His frown deepened. "What the hell..."

"It's weird, isn't it?"

"It's _Lunar_ ," he replied.

"What?" Majime brushed her hair back. "How can you tell?"

"This sparkle...only Lunar tech is made from this stuff. It's considered toxic here."

"Well, that's comforting."

Toshi shook his head as he inspected the chip. "Where the hell did Azelma find this thing?"

"She said that she bought it from an antique shop."

"I find it hard to believe that there would be anything on here. It has no engraving, no receptors, no sign that it's ever been used at all."

Majime leaned down on his desk, eyeing the chip as well. "Trust me, there's something on it. Something you don't want to see."

A burning silence. "How long is the video?"

"About two minutes...I honestly don't remember. It felt like an eternity."

"I'm gonna watch it."

Majime simply buried her head in her hands. "Fine."

She herself didn't watch the video again, but she could hear the haunting soundtrack from all the way in the kitchen. She had made herself another cup of tea, determined not to drop it this time. The screams emanating from Toshi's computer made her wince and shiver. The endless mantra of _mommy mommy I love you I love you I—_

"It's over," Toshi called out from his desk.

Majime slowly returned from the kitchen and braced herself for the comm. It didn't fail to arrive; within moments, all the ports in the apartment began to ring at once. "Don't answer it," she ordered. "Just don't."

Toshi shook a little, but ultimately hunched his shoulders and ejected the chip. "Very student film, although the effects can be impressive," he deadpanned.

"You still don't believe me? Even after that?"

"Azelma didn't die from watching this, Majime. You're overreacting."

"Here," she held out her own port. "Take my picture. Azelma's face was blurred out in all the ones on her netscreen, and they were taken a week before she died."

"She probably just used a distortion filter," he said matter-of-factly.

"Do it," Majime insisted.

Toshi sighed, but did as she asked. Sure enough, her face was blurred out in every picture he took of her. "That's really weird," he muttered.

"See what I mean? There's something about this video, and I think it's what killed Azelma. That's the only explanation."

Toshi let out a long breath. His hair, black as ink, scruffed up as he ran his hand through it. "So, on the extremely off chance that you're right, it means that I'm dying in a week."

"If we figure out where this tape came from and who made it, there might be a way to stop ourselves from dying..."

"Well," Toshi mused, "it's not like I have any other work to do." He bit his lip and furrowed his brow. "Where do you think we should start?"

"I remember there being some places in the background of some shots. If we sharpen and analyze the video we might be able to tell where those scenes were recorded."

"It might also help to figure out who that woman in the video is," Toshi added.

Majime plucked at her skin. Somehow, she dreaded finding out that woman's identity. Anything to do with Lunars, she had learned to fear.

* * *

It was a palace. After a couple of hours spent fiddling with the video file through Toshi's computer, they managed to make out a palace in the shot with the dead wolves. It was very incandescent in style, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that it was the Artemisia Palace. In other scenes, they found more faded scenery, and matched it up to various locations in New Beijing. Other than that, though, there was no indication of where exactly the video was made.

For all they knew, the sequences could've been random and meaningless. This frustrated Majime. She had promised Meryam, and now herself, that she would solve the mystery behind this video. It was all looking pretty bleak. The clock's ticking became very irritating.

"What are the odds that this lady in the video is still alive?" Toshi clicked on the keyboard. He had frozen onto a frame of the woman.

"I have no idea."

"You know, I think I've actually seen a picture of her somewhere. Those scars seem really familiar to me...here, let me run the snapshot through my ghostsearch and see if it finds anything resembling it."

Majime continued to stare at her port, at the distorted photos of her face. "Sure," she deadpanned. "Make it quick though. Hiroko ends school in an hour."

More clicks. Then, a gasp from Toshi. "No bloody way."

"What? Who is it?" Majime rushed over to him.

"I knew I'd seen this chick somewhere before. Look," he turned the monitor so she could see it. Majime stared in disbelief; displayed on the screen was a webpage made by some group of Earthen radicals back in the time of the war. Most of the content had the sole intent of railing against the Lunar monarchy, and more specifically, its head. In a big, full-colour photograph, Majime recognized the woman from the video. She had long brown hair, a scarred face, and was dressed in royal regalia. Majime's blood iced—she was staring into the good eye of the late Empress Levana. The article below the image boasted of how one of their own had managed to take a picture of her.

Throughout her life, Majime had only ever heard terrified whispers of the powerful Lunar who had conquered her world. She was a very small child when the war happened, and barely a teenager when the Earth breathed a sigh of relief; the empress had died quite suddenly and was no longer a threat to them. With no heir remaining—the crown princess had died as well—Luna had chosen a new ruler, a young king who decided it would be best to leave Earth to its former governments. Majime didn't know much else about the aftermath of the war. In her quiet home on the edge of the islands of Japan, her town and family had been mostly sheltered from the horrors of Levana's siege.

Staring at her now felt like staring into the face of a god. A vengeful, unforgiving god. In an instant, Majime wondered if this video was a result of Levana's anger, and she was now killing people from beyond the grave. "Do you think it's her?"

Toshi shook his head. "I couldn't tell you."

"It would make sense..."

"I still can't believe all this," Toshi groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "It's insane."

"I know," Majime muttered. "But I...I think that it's real. It _feels_ real."

She reached over and unpaused the video. It went on, just like she remembered, and then there were the screams again. "If that lady is Levana, then do you think the girl screaming might be her daughter?"

"Like you said, it would make sense. Princess..." He scratched his head. "Well, whatever her name was. She's dead too."

"Look her up," Majime commanded.

To their great surprise, they didn't find much on either Levana or her child's death. Majime assumed that in the aftermath, the Lunar government had all unofficial articles and pages on the subject removed. All they managed to scrounge up was the official press release and obituary published shortly after she died.

 _July Twenty-First, 135 T.E._

 _It is with great grief and sadness that the Imperial House announces the death of Her Majesty, Empress Levana Blackburn, at the hands of an assassin. She was lost at 2 AM last night, found shot and alone in her chambers. The assassin has been apprehended and executed. She is survived by her husband, Emperor Kaito. Let the entire world be guided in mourning for her loss, as well as that of Crown Princess Artemis Blackburn, who was lost three months ago._

 _She will be dearly missed._

"Not very helpful," Toshi grunted.

"It's very vague," Majime added, "and also untrue. She shot herself in the video."

"So either the video's a sham, which is extremely likely, or they're hiding something."

"They're hiding something," she stated. "I want to know what. Tomorrow, we're going to New Beijing, and we're going to ask around."

Toshi made a face. "You really think the governemnt's gonna say anything to us? All that stuff about the empress is very classified information."

"I'll find a way." She rapped her fingers on the desk. "Do you think the emperor could tell us anything?"

"You mean the old loon? Even if we somehow managed to see him, he'll probably just tell us to get lost. He never leaves the palace, remember? Although...if I had to be married to Levana, I'd probably do the same thing."

"It's rude to speak ill of the dead," Majime teased. "And you know what? It's worth a try. Our lives are on the line."

Toshi took a deep breath. "Whatever you say. I'll meet you at the maglev station tomorrow morning."


	4. Four

Hiroko spent the entire evening trying to convince Majime to take her along on the trip. Her mother solidly refused every time she brought it up. "It's no place for you, Sweetie. You're going to stay with Oba-san and Oji-san."

"But their house is _boring_! I want to go and see New Beijing!"

"Toshi and I are going there for work. It's not a recreational stay."

Hiroko cocked her head. She was still wearing her school uniform; her black shoes tapped against the hardwood floor impatiently. "Is this about that chip?"

Majime froze, and then lifted her chopsticks from the wok. Chicken juice popped off of the metal pan. "How do you know about that?"

"Az told me, you know. She told me that she was gonna die." The girl stared into her mother's eyes. "And I know you watched that chip. I could hear the screams from my room."

Majime's heart raced. She promptly decided that the stir-fry was ready and set the wok off of the stove. "She told you?"

"Yeah. She told me that she didn't have enough time. Now, you won't have enough time."

"You're not coming, and that's that."

"But I can help! Just wait..." Hiroko raced off to her bedroom. She returned a minute later with a notebook. "Az drew a bunch of pictures in here."

"Where did you get that?!"

Hiroko looked down, her expression sheepish. "I took it from her room the last time we were there."

"I told you to leave her things alone!"

"Yeah, well, _you_ took the chip from her room. So there," Hiroko stuck out her tongue.

The heat rose in Majime's cheeks; she quickly grabbed the notebook, despite her daughter's protests. She braced herself for the horrors that were most likely inside. Pages upon pages had been filled with sketches of various things. There were rabid wolves and moons and a woman with a crown. There were also pictures of beautiful models torn out of magazines. The faces had been scribbled over in pen, depicting what looked like black hair. _WHY IS THIS IN MY HEAD_ was scrawled across two pages in thick marker. In the last sketch of the bunch, Majime made out a chair, the same one from the chip, and a video camera.

"Are you going to die too, Mom?"

"Yes," Majime choked, "and Toshi. We'll both die if we don't try and stop whatever's doing this."

"I want to help too."

"No," Majime shook her head. "I'm not risking your life. You're going to your grandparents' house and if we don't come back, they're going to take care of you from then on."

"No...no! You have to come back! I don't want to live with Oba-san!"

Majime wiped away her tears. She told herself that this was the best way to handle the situation. She didn't really know what kind of force she was up against, and she had to do whatever she could to ensure that Hiroko would be safe. "Come on, supper's ready. After you eat it's straight to bed."

Hiroko stamped her foot on the ground. "I'm not going to their house," she insisted. "You'll see."

* * *

It was so very cold. Majime could feel every shred of heat seeping from her body. She couldn't keep her teeth from grinding together. It felt like she was immersed in freezing water, but she was too cold to truly tell. She was plunged in darkness at first, but as she turned her head, she could see the glowing ring. It was far out of her reach, yet incredibly close at the same time.

" _Mommy_ ," a child's voice whispered.

Majime could feel someone floating behind her. Wherever she currently was, she had company. Frostbitten fingers brushed at her arms. She tried to say something, but she couldn't manage to open her mouth.

" _Help me, Mommy. Don't leave me here..._ "

Through the strained whispers of her unknown companion, Majime could hear the faint echo of screams creeping up behind her. They were, again, the ones from the video. It was the stuff of nightmares. The cries grew louder, came closer, until they were ringing clear from the mouth of the child. Like the popping of a balloon, Majime instantly found herself bathed in moonlight, and she was sitting up in her bed. Her skin and nightclothes were drenched in sweat. She could hardly breathe, and she was still shivering uncontrollably.

The screams hadn't stopped. Despite her closed bedroom door, a glow managed to leak through the frame. It took her all of two seconds to piece everything together. Stumbling, she came out of the room to see Hiroko in the living space, on her knees in front of the netscreen. The sound cut out and final scene of the cursed video assaulted Majime's sight. She shrieked hysterically, forcing her hands over Hiroko's eyes and ears. "Look away, _look away_!"

The girl immediately reacted with cries of her own. "What are you doing?! Let me go!"

Static buzzed on the screen, signalling the video's end. Majime crawled over to it and ejected the chip. "Why did you watch it?! TELL ME!"

"I want to help! I want—"

Every device in the house began to chime. The comm had arrived. Majime cursed and snatched up the nearest port. Before even waiting for the horrid voice's bleak message, she hissed, "You're going to leave her alone."

The entire house was awash in the most chilling silence. There was a hoarse breath on the other line.

"Who are you?" Majime licked her chapped lips. Hiroko was still sitting on the carpet, her eyes wide with fear.

" _Six days, Majime,_ " the voice croaked. The link cut off like a snapped wire. Fury bubbling through her body, she threw the port against the wall. The screen shattered on impact.

"I can't believe you did that! I'm so fed up with your disobedience!"

"Well, I don't want to be dumped off at someone else's house! You always leave me somewhere else!" Hiroko sobbed relentlessly. "You love your work more than me."

"That's not true, and you know it." Majime pinched the bridge of her nose. Her glossy eyes glanced at the digital clock on the coffee table. It was four in the morning. After her nightmare, she doubted that she would be able to sleep again. "Go and pack your stuff. We're leaving in a few hours," she commanded.

Hiroko wiped away her tears and stumbled back to her own room. She only managed to put a couple of sweaters and her beloved stuffed fox into a bag before the realization of what she had just seen hit her full-on. She trembled in fear. "Mom...Mom!"

"What is it?" Majime called out from the kitchen. Hiroko could hear that she was brewing coffee.

"Can you come and help me?"

"Give me a sec." Majime appeared in the doorway. "You're a big girl; you know how to pack clothes!"

Hiroko crumpled a shirt in her fists. "I..." She hiccuped. Her eyes were red and puffy. "I'm scared."

"I am too. Don't you realize why I didn't want you to see that video?" Majime came down to her height. "I wanted to keep you safe."

Hiroko fell into her mother's arms, whimpering. "I'm sorry, Mommy."

"When we're in New Beijing, you have to stay by my side at all times—absolutely _no_ wandering off. Understood?"

The girl nodded.

"Now, what else do you need to pack?"

"I have my sweaters and Garnet..."

Majime stood. "So you need pants, socks, underwear, toiletries."

"Yeah."

Majime ruffled her daughter's hair. "And I need to go tell Oba-san that she won't be getting a visit from you. She'll be really disappointed, you know?"

Hiroko stuck out her tongue. "She can deal with it."

"That's so mean."

"It's okay," her grin widened. "She's just as mean as me."

* * *

Hiroko had been made for the big city. She gazed at everything with wide-eyed wonder, while Majime tried not to gag at the smell of the polluted air. Toshi seemed to be half-asleep during the entire ride from their home to the country's capital. As soon as they'd arrived, Majime wanted to get straight to work, but Hiroko did everything within her power to slow them down. First, she wanted breakfast from a lovely bakery. Next, she wanted to go and buy some doll clothes for Garnet. She wanted to see the museum, the koi ponds, the temples...her list of desires was never-ending.

"We need to focus now."

"But look, Mom! They have the newest Cherry Vanilla movie in the theatre! Can we go see it, _pleeeeeease_?"

"No! That's enough!" She turned to Toshi, exasperated. "Can you help me?"

"C'mon, Hiroko. It's no time for fun and games." Toshi stuck his hands in his pockets. "This is your fault, you know."

Majime rolled her eyes. "I know, I know. My head isn't completely screwed onto my shoulders at the moment." Ever since he had seen Majime approach him with the girl in tow at the station, he didn't cease to remind her about how leaving the chip where Hiroko could find it was a pretty dumb move. Majime agreed wholeheartedly, but what's done is done, and she was tired of hearing about it.

They made it out of the bustling side streets into the main square. Ignoring Hiroko's protests, Majime called a hover to take them up the small mountain to where the palace stood. Toshi had managed to get them an appointment to interview a royal advisor, which wasn't nearly as good as speaking to the emperor himself, but it was better than nothing. Majime couldn't believe their luck; she didn't expect them to even respond to Toshi's request at all. Of course, though, he didn't breathe a word of the chip to them. She wondered what he had really said to the officials.

They exited the hover and Toshi paid the driver. After that, they were left alone before the ominous gates of the palace.

"It's so pretty," Hiroko breathed. Her face was alight with awe.

"It's where the emperor lives."

"Toshi says that he's crazy."

At the mention of this, Toshi shushed her angrily. "This is not the place to talk like that," he chastised.

"Toshi's right, Sweetie. You've gotta be really careful about what you say around here. There are a lot of important people in the palace, and we wouldn't want to upset them."

Hiroko blew her hair out of her face. "Okay," she grumbled.

They supplied their official pass to the android guarding the front, and were allowed inside the main entrance. The marble rooms they walked through were so big and seemed so empty. Their every movement echoed from wall to wall. "Shuzen is awaiting your presence in the third parlour," the android's tinny voice stated. "He requests that you leave all recording devices with the guards outside the room. Paper and pen for notes are permitted."

Majime had expected as much; she came prepared with a full notepad. They followed the android to where they would be meeting Jung-Shen Shuzen, His Majesty's official advisor. The young man of thirty had taken the place of Konn Torin after his death some years ago. Majime was glad that he seemed to be easy-going; he greeted them with a smile and had a calming, cheerful presence.

"Welcome to the New Beijing Palace," he began. "I understand that you'd like to ask me some questions about the ceremonies that had once been organized at the former peace festivals?"

Toshi fidgeted. "Actually, we've come to talk to you about a different subject."

"Ah..." The advisor blinked. "Is that so?"

"Can you tell us anything about how Her Majesty died?"

The advisor was taken aback. For a moment, he struggled for words. "I don't have anything to tell you."

Majime longed to groan in frustration, but she managed to remain the ever-professional reporter. "Is there anyone we can see who _would_ have something to tell us?" She pressed on a little further, wearing her most endearing smile. "Perhaps...could we speak to His Majesty? I'm sure that he'll be able to answer our questions."

"His Majesty doesn't accept visitors at this time."

"I want to meet the emperor!" Hiroko piped up. She had been surprisingly calm and silent throughout the whole meeting.

"Please," Toshi insisted. "We really need to know. It's very important to our latest story."

Shuzen sighed. We seemed more nervous than anything. "Look, I'd love to help you, but...I never know how Kaito is going to react to unfamiliar people."

"If we upset him, I promise that we'll leave," Majime pleaded. "We'll go without another word."

Hiroko sat up straighter on her chair. "Please, Shuzen-sama?"

The advisor finally relented. "I believe that he's in the gardens. You'll have ten minutes at most."

Majime let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank you so much. It's really appreciated."

"Of course, of course. Come with me," Shuzen ordered. He brought the three of them to the royal gardens, a beautiful paradise of flowers and blooming trees. Water dribbled calmly from fountains to ponds. The air smelled of orange blossom. On the far side, they found Emperor Kaito seated on a stone bench, reading a book on his portscreen. Majime couldn't help but stare at him. He had obviously been very done up for the pictures that were frequently released on the net—his real appearance was haggard and tired, as if he hadn't slept in weeks. His hair, while still black in spots, was littered with streaks of grey. He wasn't such an old man...barely fifty-six, if she remembered correctly. He must've been in worse health than the media let on.

"Your Majesty," Shuzen took a curt bow. Toshi and Majime proceeded to do the same. Watching them intently, Hiroko dipped into a clumsy curtesy.

Kaito took a moment to respond. He slowly looked up. "How are you, Shuzen?"

"I am well, thank you." He gestured to the group of three. "I've brought you a few visitors."

"Visitors..." The emperor smiled a little. "It's been a while since I've had some of those."

"Good morning, Your Majesty. It is truly an honour to meet you—my name is Urushima Majime. I'm a reporter for the Hokkaido Tribune."

Toshi stepped forward. "I am Asakawa Toshi, Majime's partner. I am also truly honoured to meet you, Your Majesty."

"Reporters," Kaito murmured. "Hmm...what would you like to talk about, reporters?" He perked up a bit. "Shuzen, I think I can take it from here. They seem like nice folks."

The advisor bowed again. "As you wish, Majesty."

He was quick to leave them alone. Majime suddenly felt the slightest bit uncomfortable. Something about the way that Kaito looked at her made her think that he wasn't entirely sane. He seemed like he lived in a permanent state of confusion. "Why are you here?"

Majime gulped. Her hand twitching, she pulled a black metal box from her briefcase. She opened it to reveal the shimmering chip. "Do you know what this is?"

The emperor inched closer so that he could get a better look. "I don't...no. I've never seen this before."

Something in the way he hesitated told her that he wasn't really telling the truth. "Your Majesty, we think that it might be some kind of message from your wife."

His entire body froze. "I don't have a wife."

"There's a video on this chip, and Levana's in it," Majime insisted. "Would you happen to know why?"

At the mention of her name, the emperor became quite agitated. "No. I don't wish to speak of her."

"Please, Your Majesty. We need to know."

Kaito shook his head. "No, you don't."

"Why did she commit suicide?" Toshi stepped into the conversation. He was quickly losing his patience. "That's what happened, wasn't it? She wasn't killed by some assassin."

"W-What makes you say that?"

"We saw it in the video," Majime croaked.

Hiroko stuck out her tongue. "It was pretty gross."

The girl's blunt words hung in the air above them. For a moment, only the scuffling of birds and leaves could be heard throughout the garden. "She must've told her to," Kaito mumbled.

"I'm sorry?"

His eyes met Majime's, and he balled his hands into fists. "I think it's time for you all to leave."

She could tell that he wanted to tell her more, but some kind of looming fear was keeping the words caught in his throat.

"Aw, but we just got here!" Hiroko twirled around. "Can I go pick the flowers?"

"No," Toshi hissed. He grasped the girl's small hand. "I'm going to go take her back inside. It was a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty, and thank you for your time."

"Buh-bye!" Hiroko waved. "Have a nice day!"

Majime watched them walk away warily. She didn't feel comfortable being alone with the emperor. It looked like he was about to do something rash. "Your Majesty, I know this sounds insane, but...we're in great danger because of this chip. I don't mean to cause you any pain—I just need to know where it might have come from or who made it to have a chance of escaping it."

"You have no idea what you're asking."

"What do you mean?" Majime dug her nails into her palms. When he didn't answer her, she pressed on. "Would this maybe have something to do with your daughter?"

Now, he seemed truly panicked. "No, no it wouldn't. Not at all."

"No one knows how she died...do _you_?"

He shook his head. "No...I," he hiccuped, "I don't know anything. Please. Why are you doing this to me?"

It was so strange, to see her monarch cry in front of her. "You can tell me. It's okay."

"Get out," he sobbed. "Just leave."

She licked her lips. She could hear the faint sound of footsteps that drew closer; she figured that guards were approaching, alarmed by the emperor's cries of despair. She knew that her ten minutes were up. "I'm so sorry for prying," she said. "Believe me, I wish I had another choice. Thank you for talking to me, and have a good day." She bowed and made her exit. The guards that she passed wore blank expressions, but she could tell that weren't happy with her.

Toshi and Hiroko were waiting for her by the entrance to the ballroom. "Did you get anything else out of him?"

"Not really, but I think I've found a lead."

He nodded. "Do tell?"

"There's something about the princess. When I mentioned her, he seemed freaked out of his mind. I'm gonna go ask around and see if anyone would know something about her around here."

"Sounds good."

"Can we get lunch first?" Hiroko pat her belly. "I'm _starving_."

"You're a bottomless pit," Majime laughed. "Don't you think the investigation is a bit more important?"

Hiroko was suddenly serious. Her eyes shined like stars in the darkness. "It's okay, Mom. We still have five days."

* * *

 **If you've enjoyed this chapter, don't hesitate to leave any comments!**


	5. Five

They found out nothing else that day. Their search during the afternoon had been fruitless, and Majime reluctantly retired to bed in the hotel, feeling defeated. Her sleep that night was once again fitful; after the initial shock wore off that morning, she could see that she wasn't the only one. Both Hiroko and Toshi seemed rattled and nervous.

Her nightmares had been so much worse this time around. Instead of a vivid scenario, all she experienced was a darkness so vast and destructive that it made her vomit as soon as she awoke. Toshi had held back her hair as she knelt before the toilet, hunched over the bowl and feeling like her very guts were going to be forced out through her throat. The dream had been nothing but seething hatred. Majime had never felt so low.

"We should go back home," said Toshi.

Majime sat back and wiped the remaining tendrils of bile from her chin. "But we're already here..."

"I don't think we're going to find anything else. Besides, I have deadlines coming up and I shouldn't be away from the office."

"Deadlines don't matter if you're dead, Toshi."

"I think we should go. I don't like it here..." He trailed off. "It feels like whatever's doing this doesn't want us here, either."

Majime shivered. Normally, she'd say that he was full of it, but she couldn't find it within her to snap back at him. Maybe he was right.

"I'll go pack up," she sighed. She hung her head in exhaustion. Outside, the light patter of rain echoed from against the pavement. The sky was a depressing homogenous grey, with darker patches scattered here and there. It looked like a soup made of rats. The thought was disgusting, and Majime crinkled her nose. It definitely hadn't been her own. She tried to shake away whatever was whispering this thought into her ear.

Despite the sandpaper taste in her mouth, she managed to down a bowl of broth for breakfast before they all left for the train. Hiroko didn't speak at all, didn't even protest when Majime made her take a bath. She ate her meal quickly, staring at the floor. When they boarded the train, she settled herself by the window, plunking her backpack on the table. Majime slipped in beside her. Toshi took the seat across from them.

"You had a bad nightmare, didn't you?" Majime gently squeezed Hiroko's hand. The train began to move forward slowly, almost tentatively. It felt like crawling.

Hiroko shrugged. "I guess."

"Do you want to tell me about it?"

Hiroko shook her head. She dug out her colouring book and pencils; after that, she was dead to the world around her. Majime bit her lip, worried.

"She just needs a bit to herself," Toshi observed. "She's probably freaked out of her mind."

"You don't know her like I do. This isn't normal for her."

"I'm _fine_ ," Hiroko snapped. "You don't need to treat me like a baby."

Majime felt her port vibrating against her hip. She made a face when she saw who was comming her: Fujisaki Hassan, the editor-in-chief for the news column. Known better to her as her boss. She let out an annoyed grunt. Her thumb established the link.

"Good Morning, Fujisaki-san. How are you?"

"Oh, just great, Miss Urushima! Except for the fact that I'm missing that interview I wanted from you!"

Majime rolled her eyes. To make things worse, she could see Toshi chuckling smugly. They both hated their boss with a passion, and found it hilarious when the other was getting grilled over something stupid like this.

"I sent it to you three days ago."

"I don't have it, Urushima."

She barely held back a groan. "Are you checking the right inbox, Sir?"

A pause. She could hear him fiddling with something over the line. "Ah, there it is! You really should've let me know when you sent it in—we'll avoid all of these misunderstandings and wastes of time that way."

 _We'd stop wasting time if you actually knew how to keep your mail accounts in order._ "Of course, that would be great."

Suddenly, he let out an indignant scoff. "What the hell, Urushima? _Punctilious Prick_?"

Majime laughed. She heard Toshi snort in the background. "Cool title, eh? I used a little alliteration there."

"You think that's a dignified thing to call the mayor."

"It's true," she shrugged.

"You're fired."

She blew a lock of hair from her face. "No, I'm not."

"Yes, you _are_."

"I'm cooking up too good a story," Majime sang. "Anywho, I hope you have a good afternoon, Fujisaki-san. I'll be sending you chocolates to thank you for being so patient with me."

"What _story_?"

"I'll show you when I come by next week. Buh-bye!"

Before he could go on, she ended the comm and stuffed her port back in her pocket. "Good riddance," she sighed.

"You'll be dead before you can give him his chocolates," Hiroko muttered.

"Sweetie, I'm not going to die. Neither are you. I promise."

Hiroko set down her pencils. Her expression was both annoyed and afraid. "She said that she wants to kill us."

Toshi's breath caught in his throat. "Who told you that?"

"The little girl. She told me while I was sleeping." Hiroko held up a sheet of paper. "She also showed me this place."

Majime narrowed her eyes and scanned the page. Hiroko had drawn out a castle, as detailed as a six-year-old could make. The big, round Earth behind the castle told her precisely what it was. "The Artemisia Palace..." Majime whispered. "Was that place on the moon, Sweetie?"

Hiroko nodded. "She said that she lived there."

"Does she still live there?"

"No...she lives in a dark place now. No one came to look for her; she's all alone."

Goosebumps covered her skin. "Do you know where this dark place is?"

The girl shook her head. "I don't like it when she talks to me."

"Come here," Majime cooed. Hiroko scampered into her mother's arms. Majime cradled her like she had when she was a baby. "I won't let her hurt you."

"Did you have nightmares too, Majime?" Toshi wiped his damp forehead. She noticed that he was shivering.

"The first night I saw the ring from the video, and I heard her screaming. The girl."

"She kept on calling 'mommy'?"

"Yeah."

"We had the same one, then." He wrung his hands. His eyes were misted with weariness. "I wonder why Hiroko saw something different..."

Majime suddenly felt very conscious of the time. She stared off at the clock on the train car's wall. Every second that passed seemed sluggish and heavy. Still rubbing Hiroko's back, she gently folded the drawing and put it away into her briefcase. It would stay safely hidden with the chip.

She shuddered. Her breath was hot and sour on her tongue, despite having brushed her teeth over three times.

* * *

They went straight from the station to Toshi's condo; Hiroko didn't care if they went back home first. Majime set her aside with a bowl of chicken and rice for lunch. She was happy to continue her colouring and drawing by herself.

"Here," Majime handed the chip to Toshi. "Put it back into the computer. I want to watch it some more and see if we can find anything else."

Toshi popped his shoulders. She pulled a sweater from her bag and wrapped herself in it. She stood by him, watching the video through once, then a second time. "It's weird how the picture just flashes on and off. I only just noticed that."

He narrowed his eyes as it came to the suicide scene. "Yeah...you're right." He paused the video. "Look here: at this angle, you should be able to see some sort of camera in the mirror. But there's nothing. What the hell recorded this?"

Majime grabbed a chair and sank down. She took the mouse from him and unpaused the video. In every scene except the last one, the screen would go black in a rhythmic pattern. She restarted the video again; the blinking began to seriously annoy her.

She leaned away, and her eyes widened. _Blinking._ When she herself would look at the world around her, the scenes before her would always be cut out rhythmically due to her eyelids opening and closing. It seemed impossible. However, she slowly came to think that perhaps the video hadn't been recorded by any mechanical device, but rather by the human eye. It would explain why the horrors felt so real, like she was living these things herself—she had been seeing it through the eyes of someone who has truly _seen_ the contents of the chip.

"This isn't a video made by a camera—it's someone's memories," said Majime.

Toshi furrowed his brow. " _What_?"

"This was, for lack of a better explanation, recorded by human eyes! Whoever these came from somehow managed to put their own thoughts onto this chip." She stood up, now excited. She felt like she had made a huge breakthrough.

"No way," Toshi stammered. "How...how is that even possible?"

"I don't know." She ground her teeth. "I'm positive that I know who it is, though. It has to be the princess."

"Between the screaming girl in the video and the one who's been talking to Hiroko, I'd say that's a safe bet," Toshi grumbled under his breath.

She could tell that he was afraid—the thing that they were facing was of a nature that they couldn't begin to understand. He still was trying to cling onto a rational, scientific explanation for the nightmares and the video, but Majime felt that coddling themselves like that would only get them nowhere. Whether they understood it or not, this felt overwhelmingly real, and she had her child's life on the line. She was willing to believe in ghost stories if it meant saving Hiroko.

She scribbled down every piece of her theory down on paper so that she wouldn't forget a single detail. The video was made up of someone's imagination or even memories, and she was certain that this someone was Artemis Blackburn. The rush of joy she had felt at this realization faded as quickly as it had come. There were still so many questions to be answered; how was Artemis able to do this? Why would she want do make such a chip? Why did she want to kill innocent people?

She couldn't even think of where this chip had come from. It seemed relatively new, so perhaps she had made it recently? And if that was true...it meant that she could be alive.

Majime licked her lips, lost in her thoughts. She couldn't find out anything about what happened to the princess—perhaps she had kidnapped or been sent away. This video could've very well been a cry for help. She might've been begging them to find her. If they did, then maybe, _just maybe_ , Majime could convince her to spare their lives.

"Look up the address for the antique shop," she told Toshi. He had been watching her, concerned by her silence. "There's only one in town."

"That's where Azelma said she got the chip, right?"

Majime nodded and quickly copied the address that Toshi brought up on the screen. Grabbing her purse, she took the chip from the computer and set it back in its case. "I'm going to go and ask whoever sold it where it was brought in from. Do you need it anymore?"

"Nah, it's fine—I made a copy." He held up a smaller black chip, dull and ugly compared to the shimmery original. "It wouldn't save onto the computer for some reason, only another chip."

"I hope I won't be too long," she sighed. "I'll bring you back some ice cream."

He plugged the copy into the computer. "Good luck," he replied.

The world outside the condo was just as cold and unforgiving as New Beijing. Majime bundled herself up in her coat and endured the twenty-minute ride to the antique shop. She felt out of place amidst the people huddled on the maglev—all living their normal, everyday lives. Most were working quietly on their respective devices, while a few others made discreet conversation with their companions. Majime shuddered. There was a sort of darkness that separated her from these people. Like she had been marked.

The antique shop was very well kept. As she entered through the lavish wooden door, she admired the beautiful statues and ancient books displayed in glass cases. There wasn't a speck of dust anywhere. She could see why Azelma liked to shop there: it had a homey feeling about it.

"Good afternoon! Welcome to Astoria. Are you just here to browse?"

Majime turned to see a tall woman standing behind the cashier's desk. She had a warm smile and eyes that shined in the light of a second-era lamp.

"Are you the shopkeeper?"

The lady's smile widened. "Indeed I am, Miss. My name is Lu Aimee. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"In fact, yes. I'd like to talk to you about an item purchased from here."

"Is it defective?"

Majime pulled out the chip. "My niece bought this about a week or so ago," she said, trying to keep her composure.

Aimee looked at the object, then clicked her tongue. "Ah, yes, Miss Azelma! So you're her Aunt Majime?"

"That's right."

"How is Azelma, anyway? She told me last time that she was swamped with homework. I hope she's had time to relax."

Majime's chest quivered. She bit her lip before meeting Aimee's gaze. "Azelma passed away five days ago."

The way Aimee's cheer turned to pure devastation only deepened the sadness and fear in Majime's heart. The shopkeeper was lost for words. "How...how did this happen? If you don't mind me asking."

Majime considered telling her the truth for a moment, but ultimately, she decided that she didn't need another innocent person wrapped up in this whole mess. "She had pancreatic cancer. It wasn't apparent for a long time, so the doctors didn't find out about it until it was too late to save her," she lied.

"Really? Azelma didn't seem very sick when she came in here..."

"She hid it well, not wanting anyone to worry."

Aimee put a hand to her chest, tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm so sorry. I wish only the best for your family."

Majime bowed her head. "Thank you." She rubbed the chip between her fingers. "Anyway...I came here to see if you could tell me where you got this chip from."

"For once, I actually remember," Aimee managed to chuckle. "It was given to me about five years ago, I think, with a bunch of other things. I tell you, the items he gave me were probably all priceless!"

"Priceless?"

"It was a chest full of stuff: dresses, jewellery, little hair clips, toys...and this chip. He didn't charge me a microuniv for anything. It rather seemed like he was very eager to get rid of it all."

"Do you still have any of these things?"

Aimee sighed. "I've sold everything from that delivery that I'd put out on display, but naturally, there were a couple of trinkets that I couldn't bear to part with."

Majime brushed her hair back. "Do you mind if I take a look at them?"

"They're not for sale, you know."

"That's fine, I just want a look."

Aimee thought about it for a moment, and then her smile returned. She stood and went through a curtain on the back wall. "I keep them back here." She waved Majime forward.

The reporter followed, tucking the chip back into her bag. Behind the curtain was a storeroom with shelves of various memorabilia. Even back where no one could see, there was no dust to be found. Majime came to a stop next to Aimee at the very back of the room.

"Right here," the shopkeeper declared.

Majime licked her lips. Her gaze swept over the most beautiful luxuries she had ever seen. A diamond bracelet, a paint set with brush handles that had to have been made of silver. A precious stuffed rabbit stared back at her with its beady eyes. Even if she had sold all of her organs to the black market, she wouldn't have been able to afford these objects.

In the corner, she was met with a tall glass case, which held inside a fine silk kimono, milk-white and laced with pearls. The obi shimmered with crystal. The kimono was short, obviously meant for a child. Majime felt a sudden dryness in her throat. It was a garment fit for a princess.

With a trembling hand, she reached out and gently put her fingers against the glass. It nearly felt like she was touching it, the soft fabric, the cool skin, the frail wrist, the brush of long hair—

"Urushima-san!"

Majime suddenly turned her head. Aimee's eyes had gone as wide saucers, her expression one of deep unease and concern. "Are you alright? You look like you're about to faint..." She then gestured to her nose. "And you've got a bit of a..."

The reporter wiped a hand beneath her nose and sure enough, she saw that it was smeared with blood. "What the hell—"

"Hold still, I'll go grab you a tissue." Aimee hurried away, her loose black hair tumbling behind her. Majime tried to calm her shaking body, yet to no avail. She could still feel the cold touch of Artemis' skin on her fingertips.

"Here, take this," Aimee said between sharp breaths.

Majime graciously accepted the tissue and dabbed away the remainder of the blood. She was given a second, with which she held to her nostrils to staunch the bleeding until it would eventually stop. "I'm so sorry...I don't usually get nosebleeds like this. I hope I haven't ruined anything."

"It's all good. I hope it stops soon."

"So do I." She put her other hand against her forehead. "These things are all so beautiful. I can't believe you got them for free."

"I know! It was the best day of my career," Aimee sighed nostalgically.

"Do you know who gave them to you?"

"Oh, stars no. I've done business with so many people, I only ever remember the regulars. I probably would be able to recall this man if he had ever told me his name, but he didn't. He simply gave me the goods and disappeared—I never saw him again."

"You don't know from his payment?"

"He used a secure account with no name to it. So either he was a criminal, or he really didn't want me to know his name. I didn't really care when I saw what he gave me."

Majime frowned. She didn't feel like hitting yet another dead end. Not when she was so close to a clue. "Do you remember what he looked like?"

"He was _very_ old. He had a little bit of white hair and he was wearing a long black coat. That's about all I remember."

She took a moment to process this information. At first, it seemed inconsequential, but the more she thought, the more she felt certain of her guess on this man's identity. With no more to ask of the shopkeeper, she made her way back to the front of the store. "Thank you for your time, Lu-san."

"Oh, it was no trouble at all. I hope that your nose gets better."

Majime felt comforted by this woman's pleasant personality. As another form of gratitude, she bought a couple of matching necklaces for herself and Hiroko. She was sure the girl would be thrilled by her new present.

"Now, you have a good day." Aimee saw her out the door. "Stay safe and take care of yourself."

* * *

 **Don't forget to leave a review if you like this story! Thank you for reading :)**


	6. Six

Toshi ate his ice cream longingly as if it was the last meal he would ever enjoy. Majime couldn't bring herself to eat a bowl after what had happened at the store. She could still taste the tang of her own blood on the tip of her tongue, and she imagined that wouldn't mix well with strawberries.

"Where's Hiroko?" Majime grabbed an ice compress from the freezer and put it against her forehead.

"She's taking a nap in the guest room," Toshi said between bites of ice cream. "She was close to fainting about twenty minutes ago, so I put her there to sleep."

Her heart ached. Hiroko was sick because Majime just had to give in to her curiosity. She was a fool that couldn't leave well enough alone; her best friend and child would most likely pay the price for her mistake. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"For what?"

"For putting you through this."

Toshi put down his empty bowl. "Hey, I chose to watch the video. Even if I didn't believe it—hell, I still don't completely believe it—I still went into it willingly." He sat next to her and gently rubbed her shoulder. "You know, I think it'll be a good way to die, unraveling a mystery. Doing something I love."

"Don't talk like that. Don't act like this isn't scaring the shit out of you."

"It is. But why cry about it...she's gonna come for us either way. As you said, we might as well try and stop her."

Majime pinched the bridge of her nose, terrified that blood would suddenly come gushing out again.

"I love you, Majime. Worst case, if you go down, I go down with you."

"But Hiroko," she sobbed, "my little girl...she shouldn't go down. She's only six—she hasn't even lived yet."

As if by terrible, cruel coincidence, just as these words had left her mouth, they heard Hiroko begin to cry loudly from the guest room. Majime immediately rushed away from Toshi. This action made her wince; her muscles suddenly ached as if she'd just run a marathon. "Baby, what's wrong?! What happened?!"

The girl hid in the corner where the bed met the wall. She was cocooned in the blankets, one of them wrapped around her neck like a noose. She sobbed loudly. Her eyes darted around the room, searching frantically for an invisible threat.

"Did you have another nightmare?" Majime settled on the bed. She gathered her daughter in her arms and pulled her onto her lap.

"Make it go, make it go! Get it away from me!" Hiroko clawed at her hair. Her voice was so strained that it was sure to give out at any moment.

"What do you want to go away?!"

"I don't know, I didn't see it, but it bit me! It bit me right here!" She pulled down her shirt. In her panic, Majime hadn't noticed the bloodstains on the fabric. Beneath Hiroko's shirt were claw marks and holes where tiny teeth had dug into her flesh.

Majime pulled Hiroko to her feet. "It's okay, I won't let it get you again." Together, they escaped the guest room. "TOSHI! Check the rest of the house, there's something in here that's bi—"

She screamed. A searing pain shot up from her left foot. Her hand let go of her daughter's; the girl herself scurried away and clutched onto Toshi's arm. "IT'S BACK!"

Blood stained the carpet. Majime jerked around, trying to spot her assailant. The thing had bitten her ankle, cutting through the fabric of her long pants. She groaned in pain.

"Majime, it's behind you!"

Just as Toshi yelled at her, she saw it in the corner of her vision. Behind her legs was a mass of snow-white fur. She quickly turned around, nearly making herself dizzy. A small rabbit, with beady eyes and soft floppy ears, sat raised on its hind legs. Its snout twitched, then it opened its mouth. Majime shuddered at the sight of her own blood dripping from the rabbit's front teeth.

"Toshi, since when do you own a rabbit?"

"I don't," he croaked. "I've never had a pet in my life, you know that."

The rabbit plopped down on its front paws. It then took a leap closer to Majime. She backed away, leaving a crimson trail in her wake.

"G-get it o-out," Hiroko whimpered, her eyes as wide as saucers.

Toshi disappeared into the kitchen. The rabbit launched itself at Majime, ready to take another bite.

"KILL IT!" Hiroko screamed. She had scurried down beneath the table.

Toshi came back, now armed with a knife. He snarled and charged toward the violent animal, hoping to, if anything, get it to stop attacking his friend. The blade entered the rabbit's head, slicing off its ears, splitting apart its body...until it was completely gone. It then occurred to him that his knife had done nothing to it at all, and that it had simply disappeared of its own accord.

"This is getting ridiculous," he said. His knife came away clean. There were no remnants of the rabbit anywhere.

"Thanks." Majime's voice trembled. "That was really close."

"Is the bite still there?"

"It hurts like hell." She risked a glance around the living room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary—it were as if the past five minutes had been a dream. She sat down on the couch and began examining her wound. "Could you grab the first aid kit?"

Toshi, who had been helping Hiroko get out from under the table, set his knife down. "I'll be right back."

"Hiroko, come and sit next to me," Majime ordered. The girl sniffed and did as she was told. "Toshi's gonna come back with bandages and we're both gonna feel better, okay?"

"Is it gone?"

Majime kissed the crown of her daughter's head. "Never coming back." _I hope_.

"I saw a bunny outside when we came to Toshi's...I didn't know it was a _monster_ ," the girl sobbed.

"Here." Toshi walked up to them. He handed Majime the first aid supplies. "We should probably go to the hospital to make sure those bites aren't infected."

"I don't think that will be necessary."

"The thing might've been rabid, Majime."

She pursed her lips, gently rubbing disinfecting salve onto Hiroko's shoulder. "Didn't you see the way it just vanished?! I think it might've been another illusion..." She trailed off. In her mind's eye, she saw the stuffed rabbit sitting peacefully next to the beautiful jewellery in Aimee's shop. "The shopkeeper showed me a bunch of Artemis' old stuff, and there was a stuffed rabbit there. It looked just like the one that bit us."

He sank down next to them on the couch. " _Stars_...what's wrong with this girl?"

"She has superpowers..." Hiroko whispered. "She showed me what she could do during my nap."

"It's clear that she's making us see things...glamour, obviously," said Toshi. "Hardly a superpower."

"Even saying that, glamour doesn't explain how she can do that without her being here, next to us. How can she even know our names just by having us watch a video?"

He furrowed his brow. "Okay, so there's something else at work. Maybe a more advanced form of glamour?"

"A super-Lunar," said Hiroko.

Majime buried her head in her hands. Her ankle was still bleeding, and Toshi lifted her leg to wrap up the wound. "I don't know what to do next. All I found out at the shop was that some old man gave the chip to the shopkeeper. She told me that she has no idea who the man was."

"Maybe we should think of where that chip could've been made. The princess lived in both New Beijing and Artemisia. There was nothing helpful to us in the former, but there might be something to discover on Luna." Toshi finished tending to Majime's wound. He began to put away the first aid kit. "Besides, that chip is Lunar to begin with."

Majime clenched her hands into fists. Luna. The land of nightmares. How many of the Earthen people had been killed off by them? She couldn't even fathom the number. After Levana died, several of the Earthen leaders had all Lunar immigrants deported back to the moon. No Earthen had wanted to set foot there, as was still the case now. As was still the case with Majime.

"Luna scares me," she muttered.

"I'll go," said Toshi. "Someone has to stay here with Hiroko anyway. I'm sure you don't want her going."

Majime gulped. "Absolutely not."

Hiroko buried her face in her mother's side. This time, she wasn't insisting on coming along for the ride. She too must've sensed that Artemisia would not be a safe place for her.

"Don't you have interviews this week, though?"

Toshi sighed. "Yes, and I've already been postponing them. The boss will kill me if I miss them again."

"Maybe it's best if I go, then. I don't have any commitments."

"Are you sure you'll be okay over there, alone?"

"It doesn't really matter," she replied. "We don't have much other choice. Is it okay if Hiroko stays with you? She'll need to be taken to school tomorrow."

"Does she have to go? If something like this happens again in a public place…"

"She already missed school on Saturday. If something goes wrong, she'll just come back here. Isn't that right, Sweetie?"

"I can go to school, Toshi." Hiroko patted his shoulder. "She only gets to me in my dreams. I won't be dreaming in class."

"I should hope not!" Majime managed to smile.

"You should go and get her stuff, then. I'll book you a ship and a pilot...you'll need official permission to enter Artemisia as well."

"Is it possible for me to get that?"

"A few of my old colleagues have told me that the king is pretty lax about Earthen visitors, as long as their stay is shorter than a week. Apparently he finds us 'adorable'."

Majime snorted. "I pray I won't have to spend any time around him...I have a feeling that he'll be getting on my nerves."

* * *

The trip to Artemisia would last twelve hours. Majime, already antsy before boarding the space shuttle, grew ten times more nervous as the minutes slowly trickled away. By the time she would arrive, she'd be gazing at the sunrise of her fourth day. Assuming they even had sunrises on Luna.

The shuttle was separated into separate cabins. Only two were occupied, unsurprisingly—the one closest to the bridge was booked by a family of four, the other by Majime herself. She did not know the nature of the family's visit to Luna, nor did she care to find out. She didn't leave her own quarters for the duration of the voyage. When the attendants offered her food, she accepted it quickly with a quiet 'thank you'.

The meal tray went untouched. She felt very ill and feared that should she eat something, it would just come back up a few minutes later. She remained hunched on the bed, trying to relieve her nausea. The sight of the stars flying by outside the window made her so dizzy that she was forced to shut the curtains.

She leaned back. Took a deep breath through her nose. She had to calm down.

"You'll be fine," she told herself.

In an instant, she felt something shoot up inside her throat. She gagged loudly. It was like a viper trying to break its way out of her esophagus.

She ran to the bathroom. Bile dribbled down her chin as she gagged repeatedly. Her neck ached. She felt the thing squeeze up higher, closer to her mouth. The horrifying sight assaulted her in the mirror. Trembling, she put a couple of fingers in her mouth and grasped onto a plastic-coated wire. The pain was agonizing. Slowly, she pulled the foreign object out of her throat. It slipped into her palms, bloody and coated in saliva. From what she could tell, it was a sort of device used to monitor brain activity.

She coughed. Blood coated her lips. She dumped the device in the sink and wiped her face on her sleeve.

"Attention all passengers—we are nearing our destination and have begun our descent. We'll be landing in AR-Central, port E, in approximately twenty minutes. Please have your visa forms and customs declarations ready. Thank you for travelling with us today."

Majime coughed again. Gritting her teeth, she grabbed a plastic bag from a nearby shelf and sealed the device inside. She placed it in her suitcase, buried away from sight.

The ship eventually landed with a jolt. Majime gathered her wits and brought herself, as well as her baggage, out of the cabin and out into the terminal. It was a beautiful port, with floors made of glass.

"Your wrist, Ma'am?"

She glanced at the royal guard looming over her. He held an ID scanner aloft.

"Oh, of course." She extended her arm. The scanner bleeped. The guard's expression didn't change once.

"Welcome to Artemisia, Urushima Majime. His Majesty wishes you a most pleasant visit."

She lowered her head and followed the flow of the crowd. Aristocrats walked on every side of her; a few even gave her curious glances. Her heart thundered. She hoped that she wouldn't be giving them any reason to manipulate her.

She wasn't sure if she was even allowed in the palace, but none of the guards posted at the entrance stopped her, so she slipped in without a word. She was certain that if she'd just been there sightseeing, she would be dazzled by the palace's splendour. In her present situation, all she could do is stare ahead and keep her body moving.

"Urushima!"

Her head snapped around at the sound of her name. She stared, wide-eyed, at the woman who had shouted at her. She wore a black coat and an overwhelming aura of pride. "Are you Urushima?"

"I am," said Majime.

"I need your visas."

Majime was quick to give the thaumaturge what she demanded. She looked over the paperwork for a moment before nodding. "I'll let His Majesty know that you're here. Have a nice stay."

Majime tried to calm her racing heart. Focus, focus. She came for a specific purpose. Now...who could she talk to? Who would have answers for her?

She came to a stop. She had wandered far enough that the hallway had finally emptied. Only after observing for a moment did she notice that the area she was in seemed oddly unkempt.

She took out her portscreen. A map of the palace, procured from deep within the net, told her that she was a floor below the former royal apartments. Not ten feet away from her was a winding staircase. When she was certain that it was deserted, she made her way up. The chandelier on the ceiling didn't glow at all. The corridor she walked into was mostly dark, a layer of dust coating the floor. Rows of beautiful doors lined the wall. Most were unlocked, leading to empty rooms with the curtains drawn. There was only one that wouldn't cede when she attempted to open it.

She pursed her lips. The lock was a traditional one, requiring a key. She took a pin out form her hair and began to pick the lock. It took a while, at least ten minutes, but she eventually heard a click and was able to push the door open. The room inside was full of furniture, and if it weren't for the dust, Majime would've been sure that someone lived there.

Majime's eye caught on something fixed to the wall. A jolt of fear shuddered through her. The mirror from the video, without any reflection, cast a shadow over the room. As she approached it, the glass lit up and displayed a welcome screen.

She relaxed. It was just a netscreen. The software was outdated, and Majime hadn't the faintest clue what the passcode was, so she turned her attention elsewhere.

There was another door on the far wall. Majime assumed that it lead to the bathroom. It too, was locked, and she picked the second lock with annoyance. The lock gave way and the door creaked open. She walked not into a bathroom, but a child's bedroom.

Her breath caught in her throat. The walls were covered in markings, as if they'd been burned into the stone. There were a lot of toys—she counted over fifteen porcelain rabbits. Her body tensed and the wound on her ankle began to throb. She half-expected one of them to come alive and bite her again.

Suddenly, her stomach lurched. There was someone in there with her, she could feel them staring at her back. Turning around, slow as molasses, she locked eyes with a large portrait of Artemis Blackburn.


	7. Seven

Artemis stared at her. Majime stared back. The beating of her own heart rang loudly between her ears. It was something both captivating and awful, seeing the girl's eyes. The darkness of them reminded her of the drain in her bathtub—as a child, she'd been terrified that the drain would somehow suck her into the depths of the sewers.

She resisted the urge to scratch her ankle. Artemis didn't move, a prisoner within the canvas. A girl made of paint. Majime licked her lips and wished her unease away. She then began to analyze the portrait, telling herself that it was harmless.

The princess looked a lot like her father, if the portrait was indeed accurate. Her features were fine and delicate. Long black hair framed her cheeks. She was a very pretty child, one that would've surely grown to become a very beautiful woman. Majime tried to remember if the girl in the video was the same as the one in the painting—the picture in the former was so grainy that it was truly hard to tell.

She turned away from the portrait. Artemis' bedroom was a time capsule; despite the dust that coated every surface, the room still sparkled. Majime felt like a pauper surrounded by such abundant finery.

After a few minutes of poking around, she found nothing of note in that room, so she made her way back to the main apartment. She conducted a similar investigation in Levana's quarters. Again, the dust was the only thing that kept Majime from thinking that the apartment was inhabited.

"I wouldn't have thought you'd go this far to steal stuff."

Majime jumped, the put a hand to her chest to calm her beating heart. "I swear, I had no intention of stealing anything—"

"The least you could do is turn around so that I can see the weapons you're holding."

She complied, holding her palms open in a show of innocence. "No weapons, Sir. I can explain, Sir."

The man who'd confronted her crossed his arms over his chest. A couple of royal guards stood behind him. "Well? Why have trespassed into a forbidden part of the palace?"

"If it's so forbidden, why isn't there better security?"

The man cocked his head to the side, pondering this idea. "Mmm, touché. I guess you win that one."

Majime didn't dare lower her defences. "Sir, I meant no harm here. I'm simply conducting a private investigation."

"Investigation? On the royal family's property?"

"There's no political motivation behind my search," said Majime. "Purely...personal interest."

The man raised his brow. Majime's words did nothing to convince him, and she honestly couldn't blame him for that. She hadn't put herself in a good position, sneaking around like she was.

"Your Majesty, should we apprehend her?" Asked one of the guards.

"No, I find her quite amusing, actually. And look at her; I'll bet she doesn't have a dangerous bone in her body."

Majime stuck up her lip in irritation. How she longed to tell him off, but somehow she sensed that giving attitude to King Charleson Annotel would only worsen her current situation.

"So tell me, Miss…" Charleson glanced at his port, "Urushima Majime, what do you hope to accomplish by looking through this apartment?"

"Tell me, Your Majesty, if you've heard of a chip that kills its viewer. A sort of video curse."

"Never."

"Well, I've seen a very suspicious video of this nature, and all evidence pointing to the one responsible leads me to Empress Levana and Princess Artemis."

At those last words, the king's amused expression melted into one of subtle anxiety. "Artemis? That's a name I haven't heard in a long time."

"You knew her?"

"Well, no one really knew her per se, but if you're asking whether I've had contact with her before or not, then yes, I have."

"Could you tell me more about her? About how she disappeared?"

"No."

Majime put her hands to her chest, pleading. "Please, Your Majesty. Anything you know will help. My daughter and I are in danger. So is my best friend." She lowered her voice. "Artemis wants to kill us. Somehow, I don't know, but she can kill people who've seen her video. She killed my niece."

"The world was told that she was kidnapped and never found."

"I think she might still be alive. If I can just know how and where she went missing, maybe I can find her and save my Hiroko…"

Charleson Annotel shook his head. "It's a very fishy story. The royal family were on vacation somewhere—they went every year and the location was always kept secret: that was the last time the princess was seen. The only person I can think of who'd know where she went missing is the earthen emperor. He was there."

This merger information only upset Majime even more. "Your Majesty, I'm desperate. I only have three days left."

"You're really committed to this story, aren't you?" Charleson sighed. "Tell you what: because I find your delusions cute, let's take a walk and I'll tell you what I remember of Artemis. Maybe that will help you."

Majime swallowed her contempt for this man's condescension and followed him eagerly away from the chilling, abandoned apartment. He took her through a quiet hallway that wound around and around; Majime was convinced that it was just an eternal pathway straight to hell. Perhaps letting the king having her alone for such a long time was a bad idea.

"So. Artemis. She was...well, special would be one way to describe her. I still don't really know what was wrong with her. There definitely was something wrong, though."

"Wrong in what way?"

The king rubbed his forehead. "Bear with me here, because it was a long time ago. I was around fifteen when I last saw her. The main thing I remember is that she was looked like she was half-dead. She never slept, you know. At least, that was the rumour going around court. She had dark circles around her eyes and she was as pale as a ghost, I swear. She never smiled at anyone. She'd never look anyone in the eye. People also said that she didn't have glamour, since she was half-earthen and all...but she could still make us see things."

"How?"

"I don't know. But she was definitely doing it because all those weird things only happened when she was around."

"Weird things?"

"Yeah. I'd dare say they were supernatural, beyond even strange. There was that monster that would roam the halls at night that everyone could see, yet no one could get rid of. It would be gone when the royal family left for Earth, and right back haunting this place when they'd return. Oh, I remember when all the wolves in the menagerie just jumped out of the windows and drowned in the lake. It was so nasty."

Majime's muscles clenched. Sweat dripped down the nape of her neck. Dead wolves in the water.

"Artemis did that…"

"It's what the court would say, yes. No one knew what to do about her. There was no proof that she was behind all the weird stuff that's happened here, but everyone knew it in the back of their minds." Charleson cleared his throat. "Then, Levana started to go crazy, and I mean absolutely insane. She'd ramble all the time and have panic attacks in public...I once even saw her foaming at the mouth a little sometimes. She tried to cover it up, but eventually, it got so bad that she had to stay in a mental hospital in New Beijing for a while. My father looked after Luna while she was away."

"Until Artemis went missing."

Charleson shook his head. "No, Levana was released from the hospital a bit before that. Four months away from Artemis seemed to have cleared her head enough for her to be coherent. She was back at court. Then, the royals went away and Artemis was never seen again."

"Why wasn't she found? Surely there must've been a hell of a search for the heir to the Lunar Empire."

He leaned in closer to her, enough so that he could whisper into her ear. "Isn't it obvious? Everyone was secretly glad that she disappeared. Ever since she's been gone things have been better for us all."

Majime shivered. "Levana killed herself three months after."

The king's brow furrowed. "No, she was assassinated. I like to think it was by the same people who'd taken Artemis. Sick people," he said, clicking his tongue.

"In the video, she shot herself in the head."

"You keep on talking about this video. Is it something I should see?"

Majime clutched her briefcase close to her hip, trying to protect its contents from Charleson's scrutinising gaze. "No."

After a moment, he shrugged. "Eh, whatever. If what you're saying is true, I most certainly don't want to have Artemis coming after my skin." He stopped walking and stared out a large window. Majime only then realised that they had passed this same window at least four times during their conversation. "Well, that's all I have to tell you. For further details, I suggest you go to Artemis' father. He'd know more than me, anyway."

"I already tried. He wouldn't tell me anything."

"The poor sop. He's been unhinged for years now," said Charleson.

"So you don't know how what kind of power she had."

"It wasn't glamour, so no. How do I know it wasn't glamour? Simple: when Artemis made things appear, they stayed around. The monster would follow her. The things she'd mark on the wall were permanent. That was the scariest part about what she could do—her creations weren't illusions, they were real. Tell me, which would be worse: a hallucination in which a bear eats half of your body, or if a real grizzly actually came after you and chomped off your legs?"

"I think I'd rather keep the grizzly away from me."

"Heh, you're funny." Charleson patted her on the shoulder.

Majime flinched at his touch. "Well, I just want to thank you for your help and your time. Sadly, I think I should be leaving now. I have a six-year-old waiting at home."

"Wait." His grip on her tightened. "I just remembered something! We have Levana and Artemis' medical files stored away in the hospital, including the ones from the asylum. Maybe you'll find those useful too."

* * *

Charleson Annotel had left Majime alone in an empty office to sort through the contents of the box he had promised her. It contained two folders, one quite thick, the other containing only a few documents. The larger one had _Levana Apogee Blackburn_ written neatly on the tab. Majime pulled out the late empress' birth and marriage certificates, her general health records, a list of her hospital stays and surgeries. The document that caught Majime's eye was titled _pregnancies_. Instead of a single entry, there were six different occurrences noted on th sheet. The first was Artemis, conceived sometime in January of 127 T.E. and born on September 15th in the same year. Majime was shocked to learn that Levana had been pregnant a total of five times in the span of two years, between 133 and 135.

 _Fetus #1 conceived in February 133 T.E._

 _Miscarried on June 6th 133 T.E._

Below this, there was a picture of a bloody creature, obviously dead. It didn't even look like a baby.

 _Fetus #2 conceived in August 133 T.E._

 _Miscarried on October 11th 133 T.E._

Another picture of a dead fetus. The rest of the list was more of the same. _Miscarried, miscarried, miscarried._

"Stars," Majime muttered, "she just wouldn't quit."

Setting the chilling document aside, she shifted her focus to the second folder in te box. The second folder contained all of Artemis' records. There weren't nearly as many for her as there was for Levana. Aside from her birth certificate, the only other records under Artemis' name were the notes taken from the mental hospital.

 _HRH, Artemis Miwako Blackburn_

 _Patient #55789_

 _Property of Ankang Mental Hospital_

 _Highly Confidential_

Majime ignored the last words written in bright red and went through the folder from Ankang. The majority of its contents didn't reveal anything new about Artemis—she had been an insomniac since the age of three, likely a schizophrenic, suffered from paranoia and severe social anxiety.

Then, Majime saw the pictures. They weren't photographs, but x-ray images. Handprints, needles, severed limbs, and what looked like an impaled face were printed onto the sleek x-ray paper, the glowing white of the images a stark contrast to the black background. There were four sheets of these; Majime recognised it as Artemis' handiwork. She must've somehow produced these strange pictures with her powers.

Finally, at the very bottom of the box, there was a chip and a tangle of wires. These wires ended with round pads, and Majime realised with horror that they were identical to the thing she had pulled out of her throat on the way to Luna. After a moment's hesitation, she quickly took the bloody plastic bag containing this wire from her bag and condemned it, along with the clean wires, back to the very bottom of the box.

This left her with the chip resting in her palm. It was black and didn't give off so much as a glimmer. Majime dug out her port and plugged the chip in. Unlike the cursed chip, this one contained fifteen different video clips, each about ten minutes in length. Majime was feeling anxious about the time and didn't think that she could stay and watch all of them.

She decided to start with the last video file, titled AR00015, and work her way up from there. As the last recorded session, it likely had the most information on it.

She tapped on the video and the file began to play. The camera focused on a white room, where a small girl was seated on a metal chair. Long black hair covered her face. Her small hands, fingers as white as bone, were folded in her lap. She clutched the fabric of her white hospital gown.

"This is AR00015, Artemis Blackburn, hour 15," said a voice. "Welcome back, princess. Did you have a good night?"

Artemis didn't respond.

"I see that you didn't really sleep at all. Tell me, what's been keeping you awake?"

Still, the girl didn't speak. Majime tried to pick out the face of Artemis' portrait in that of the girl in the asylum, but all Majime could see was a curtain of black.

"Let's talk about the pictures. How did you make them?"

 _The pictures?_ Majime glanced at the x-ray sheets.

"I don't," Artemis finally said, " _make_ them. I see them, and then, they just... _are_."

"Artemis, I need you to start telling the truth, okay?"

"Can I see my Mommy?"

"No, Artemis, not until we find out what's wrong with you."

"I want my Mommy," said Artemis.

"Your mother is very sick right now, Artemis. She says you're the one that's doing all of these horrible things to her."

"I love my Mommy."

"Yes, you do. But you don't want to hurt her anymore, do you? You don't want to hurt anyone."

"But I do, and I'm sorry," Artemis whimpered.

"Well, that's why you're here; so that we can help you to make it stop."

There was a long moment of silence. Then, Artemis lifted her head slightly, though not enough to have her hair fall away from her face. "He's going to leave me here," she muttered.

"Who?"

"Daddy."

"They just want to help you, Artemis."

"Not Daddy."

"Your Daddy loves you."

Artemis shook her head. "Daddy loves his Cinder. He thinks I'm an _abomination_." She fidgeted with the wires attached to her skin. "He wants me to go away."

Majime's eyes watered. Something about the girl's absolute certainty of her father's feelings toward her made Majime's heart break. No child should ever feel like their own parents hate them.

"He doesn't hate you," said the interrogator.

Artemis went on as if he hadn't spoken. "But he _doesn't know_..."

"He doesn't know what?"

Silence.

"What is it that he doesn't know, Artemis?"

The video ended suddenly and the picture melted away. The screen was left white with what looked like burnt paper. Black ink scrawled across the screen. Five characters were etched in vulgar penmanship.

 **高山 美和子**

Majime recognised this as Japanese and read out a name: Takayama Miwako. A thought suddenly clicked in Majime's mind. Miwako, Miwako...not only was that name written on Artemis' folder, but if she remembered correctly, that was also the name of Emperor Kaito's late mother. Empress Miwako of the Eastern Commonwealth, wife of Emperor Rikan.

Majime couldn't help the feeling of excitement that overcame her. It was a clue, that much was obvious. She jotted down the name before her port suddenly switched off. It refused to reboot until the chip was removed. As soon as the screen came back to life, Miwako established a comm link with Toshi.

"Hey, are you doing alright over there?"

"I'm on my way out," Majime said, putting the folders away neatly in the box. "Boarding a ship as soon as possible. I just need you to do something for me."

"Yeah?"

"Look up the name _Takayama Miwako_ ; I've sent you a text with the spelling. I think I might have found something."

* * *

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